Last weekend was a whirlwind of activity beginning with a missions conference and ending with a ladies’ meeting and presentation of our ministry.

We left out Thursday morning and arrived in Wilson, NC around 3:00 in the afternoon. The church (Trinity Baptist) was kind enough to provide us with a beautiful hotel room, so we were able to check in and freshen up before leaving for dinner at the church. Once there, we were able to meet some of the other missionaries present as well as the guest speaker and his wife and, of course, Pastor Renfrow and his wife. During the evening service, Jason was given the opportunity to present our burden for Wales and I was asked to sing a special. Evidently, God was helping me stay humble because when I began playing the song, I quickly realized I was in the wrong key. I didn’t want to stop and start over because I was afraid that would be too noticeable, so instead, I tried to just jump in at the right key. That didn’t work at all! It wasn’t pretty, but it was a good reminder that it’s not about me. Hopefully, someone still received a blessing from the song.

On Friday, we had the majority of the day to ourselves, so we spent time in the morning catching up on some work and then did a little light shopping (mostly window shopping) after lunch. All in all, it was relaxing and enjoyable. The church provided dinner again and then we had a wonderful time of fellowship during the evening service. It was a joy and privilege to chat with the church members and fellow missionaries and to find things we had in common.

After the service, we packed up our things, loaded the car and headed out for Gaston, SC. The trip down was smooth, but it was after 1:30 in the morning by the time we arrived. Fortunately, the good people of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church allowed us to stay in their prophet’s chamber, which is a lovely house on the church property.

After a mere five hours of sleep, I woke up and began getting ready for the Ladies’ Jamboree at which I was scheduled to speak, beginning at 10:00. The meeting went beautifully, and despite my lack of sleep, God worked through me and encouraged the ladies in attendance. I was privileged to meet many precious women during our time of fun and fellowship. After that, I went back to the prophet’s chamber to join Jason for some time of rest before meeting Pastor Hanks for dinner, which was a blast.

On Sunday morning, Jason was invited to present our burden for Wales as well as bring the morning message. I was, again, asked to sing, and this time, I actually played in the proper key. The people were so kind and friendly and were quite an encouragement to us. One little girl even presented Jason with a drawing she had done of him. How precious is that?

After the morning service, Pastor Hanks took us out for lunch, and once again, we were reminded of how good God is. It was like having a meal with our own pastor, and we felt so at ease. We were invited to come back any time and given so many words of encouragement. When we left that afternoon, we felt renewed and refreshed despite the fatigue of our bodies from the long journey.

After an uneventful two-hour drive, we arrived at our home, ready to be reunited with Barnabas, who had been missing “his people” like crazy. Too tired to even contemplate making it to church for the evening service, we snuggled with our pup and enjoyed some much-needed rest.

Now, it’s back to work and trying to find the time to book more meetings. No one ever told us that the work of the missionary begins long before they ever make it to the mission field. Still, God is good, and He is meeting each and every need!